Smilebox is a new slideshow program available for free downloads. Like
many slideshow programs it allows you to insert your photos and video
into a template interface. You can add your own music, and upload the
completed show to your web site or social media page (like Facebook or
your blog).
Smilebox is intuitive, easy to
navigate, and there are a lot of pre-set templates. The templates are
attractive, clever, functional, and customizable to varying degrees.
It
lost a couple stars when I encountered a bug trying to upload it to my
Facebook page, and when I realized that it wasn't as free as the
initial advertising made out. It's still affordable, there is still a
free version, but I was picturing a Flash insert that I would have on
my own page. The free version (the one I used for this review) instead
diverts the viewer to Smilebox's page where there are advertisements
displayed. I don't see that as a deal-breaker for the average hobby
user. For a business user though, it's not robust enough, even with the
moderate cost of $2.99 per slideshow (though to be fair, I don't think
business users are the target audience).I wasn't crazy about the resolution of the final images, either.
I'm not crazy about the "subscription" payment model. I have noticed a number of smaller software companies offering limited licenses that you have to pay for monthly or annually. I prefer to pay once and be done with it. I would like to see a one-time payment option offered as well for a program like this.
For an individual user or blogger, this program has some limited uses, but there are a number of other alternatives that do a pretty fair job at the same or lower cost.
